Rockland Trust Co. Increases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Rockland Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 448,861 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,104 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $19,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hudock Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 39,842 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 8,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Red Spruce Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the third quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 71,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,144,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Camden National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the second quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 5,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, FRG Family Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the second quarter. FRG Family Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,517 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $47.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $47.58. The company has a market cap of $198.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 68.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. William Blair raised Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.02.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.